Another apology from Sir Alex Ferguson and another afternoon of high anxiety. These are strange times for Manchester United.

Not so strange that Ferguson's side occupy a familiar position at the top of the Barclays Premier League table on the back of a nervy win over Bolton and a fortuitous draw with Sunderland that hardly signal the crumbling of an empire.

But, as he faced the goal where he had inadvertently handed United an early lead and could so easily have snatched a late equaliser for Bolton, Zat Knight did not sound like a man who will lose sleep over returning to Old Trafford.

‘Football has changed,’ he said. ‘The Premier League is a lot harder and everyone can beat anyone on their day.

‘Clubs like ourselves go to places like Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge believing we can get something. Chelsea lost to Villa, Liverpool lost at Sunderland and we have come to United and almost got a draw. I really thought we were going to get the equaliser.’

Knight’s comments echoed the sentiment of Ferguson’s programme notes, with the United boss.

‘I feel it’s an insult to the rest of football to expect us to run rings around the opposition every time we go out on to the pitch,’ wrote Ferguson.

He used the same column to again say sorry to Alan Wiley, the referee he accused of lacking fitness after United got a late draw against Sunderland.

Too late: Matthew Taylor briefly put Bolton back into contention

You can wait 23 years for an apology and then they all arrive at once. Whether Ferguson’s latest offering was sincere or as artificial as the surface United will encounter when they meet CSKA Moscow on Wednesday night, it is unlikely to prevent him being hit with an FA charge today and the threat of a substantial touchline ban.

There are no guarantees Wayne Rooney will be back either, his involvement depending as much on when his pregnant wife Coleen goes into labour as his recovery from a calf injury.

Ferguson can again call on Edwin van der Sar who returns to the scene of his penalty shoot-out heroics against Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow.

Van der Sar’s first appearance of the season saw Ben Foster dropped in the same week he returned from international duty.

For 75 minutes, the Dutchman enjoyed a comfortable comeback after United benefited from an own-goal for the second game in a row courtesy of Knight, and then Antonio Valencia rewarded their superiority with his first competitive goal since an £18million move from Wigan.

That all changed when Matt Taylor headed Bolton back into contention, with both Knight and Gary Cahill going close to a late equaliser.

First strike: Antonio Valencia (right) is congratualted on his first United goal

Bolton boss Gary Megson felt it could have been a different had his team started in the manner in which they finished.

He said: ‘I told the players what they’re going to read in the papers will be the words “gallant” and “noble” and all that, but we didn’t get anything out of the game.’